Crystal Spring farmer helping people reconnect with nature

Friday

Mar 17, 2017 at 10:20 AM

By Heather Gillis/hgillis@wickedlocal.com

PLAINVILLE — Since moving to Crystal Spring Farm in the summer of 2015, farmer Sam Billings has been busy cultivating a permaculture environment and invites the community to come learn how to reconnect with their food.

Permaculture is an ethically-based ecological design system. According to Billings, it is both a science and a movement within which humans are re-learning how to live in harmony with nature.

"Nature will grow food without you; I help people learn how to assist nature to grow the foods that they like," Billings said.

Billings grew up in Hopedale, where he attended and graduated from Hopedale High School. He said his family was just like every other family, purchasing their food at the local grocery store.

"I grew up in suburbia," Billings said. "My parents didn’t garden."

After high school Billings headed off to UMass Amherst, where he stumbled upon a course offered by the philosophy department that got him thinking about his future.

"It forced me to ask a lot of questions," he said. "What is worthy of me spending my life on it?"

A course on sustainable living is where Billings found his inspiration.

He graduated from UMass with a degree in plant and soil science with a concentration in sustainable food and farming. Billings took things a step further and earned his permaculture design certificate in 2009.

After graduating, Billings spent four years working for a family by creating and maintaining their two-acre garden in Stamford, Connecticut. Part of the job was to teach his employers’ children how to manage the garden from seed to harvest.

"During my time there I learned an awful lot," he said.

Through hands-on experience, he became educated in open space growing, the health benefits of growing food locally, beekeeping, and tree care. He even rebuilt a historic glass greenhouse.

After four years in Stamford, he knew it was time to move on and expand on what he had learned. That is when he visited the New England Small Farms Institute list serve and became aware of an opportunity to run Plainville’s Crystal Spring Farm. The farm is sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Peace who protect the farm's 42 acres.

After going through an interview process, Billings was ultimately chosen to oversee the farm.

Billings and his girlfriend, Cassy Sullivan, live on the property with their dog and 10 chickens and rent a modest house on site where he can run the farm and take care of the land.

"We’d like to be here for good," Billings said. "We are creating a farm and creating a home."

Part of Billings responsibilities as "Farmer Sam" include inviting the community onto the land to see where the food is grown, managing the seasonal farm stand and teaching classes to educate people further about farming and permaculture.

This spring, guided permaculture farm tours are scheduled and Billings is hosting a mushroom inoculation party on April 22 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. On June 25 Billings has a compost workshop planned.

Billings is also available for off-site permaculture consulting and for the first meeting is willing to travel for free to residents living within five miles of Plainville. Beyond the five-mile radius, he only asks customers for gas money for the initial consultation. Prices vary beyond that depending on the scope of the project.

From learning how to grow herbs indoors to helping to install an irrigation system on 50-acres, Billings said he can help home and property owners with a variety of needs.

Together with his clients, he examines things like climate. Is there a water source? What is the soil like? Are there aesthetic issues?

"I look at which things might grow well and look for solutions," he said. "I want to help anybody who wants to do better. It is my mission to break down the perceived barriers between humans and nature."

He added there are no "pemaculture police."

"It doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s less of a rule and more of a mindset, a movement and type of culture that allows you to grow the things you need," he said. "I want to help people come up with goals, something you’d like to accomplish — what is it and quantify when and how you’re going to do it. I want people to make these ideas part of their lives."

Fore more information on Crystal Spring Farm or to set up a consultation with Billings visit http://www.crystalspringfarm.org/.